A Tale of Two Main Streets (Pt. 7)

Can you believe I've stretched one visit into seven posts? I'm really showing restraint...especially since there's a final installment tomorrow! Today's post will take you from one Main Street (Disneyland's Main Street, U.S.A.) to another one (Disney California Adventure's Buena Vista Street). My last few visits, I've shot a few of the former Kodak Shop, not knowing what its future will be since Kodak pulled the ol' sponsorship plug this year.

As I was cutting through the shops on Main Street, I could hear the sweet harmonies of the Dapper Dans.







Drew Tablak, my favorite "Silent Night" soloist from Candlelight, was singing as part of the Dans.



The Cinema looked crisp and clean; stay tuned for a dedicated post to this Opening Day favorite later on this week.



Doing a little criss-crossing, I took a few shots of the lights in the Fortuosity Shop...



as well as some of the shelf displays.



Over at the Emporium, I was beginning to see the crowds...I knew that my day would be coming to a close! Still, I was able to get a few more shots without guests.



These animatronic tableaus are simple, but have fascinated me ever since I saw them as a little boy.





As I left Disneyland, the lines to get in were crazy long, and so were the lines for DCA. Still, I was hungry for lunch and had a few "to-do's" on my photo shot list.



Buena Vista Street was also decorated for the 4th; something about the patriotic bunting that I really like. Probably the sense of nostalgia that it invokes.











You know I can't resist the light fixtures.



A few of the Carthay Circle Theater:





And today I will be dropping you off at the "Lone Ranger" locomotive parked at the front of the Hollywood Studios Gate.



See more vintage & current Disneyland Main Street, U.S.A. photos on my Main Street web pages.

Healthy Curiosity at the Upjohn Pharmacy, Feb. 1960

In an apparent series of 5, Disneyland did some press releases for the Upjohn Pharmacy shop/museum on Main Street. Recently, I acquired #5; I have previously published 3 of the others...still trying to hunt down the missing one! From the publicity release:

Pretending to be a druggist, Lory Knuchell tries out a giant mortar and pestle used to grind and mix medical compounds. Visitors are permitted to handle and operate museum exhibits when the shop is not crowded. Some of the mortars and pestles in the store's collection date as far back as 1575 and represent many different parts of the world. 2/20/60

Here are the other shots in the series that I currently own:







Today, this location is The Fortuosity Shop, where guests can have custom made watches created by Disney artists.



See more vintage Upjohn Pharmacy photos on my Upjohn Pharmacy web page.

April 1977, Pt. 2

A little bit of then and now, with April 1977 as the baseline. Continuing with the series I introduced last week, we begin with a little area near the Coke Corner outdoor seating section. The rounded-top doors have been changed in the 30+ years between photos.



Over at the former Upjohn Pharmacy, the items in the window signify that it has been changed to the New Century Timepieces (back in 1972).



I just had to zoom in to check out the merchandise!





Today, this window is part of the Fortuosity Shop.



Over in Frontierland, you'll find it interesting to compare the menu items (and the prices!) between 1977 and 2011 for The Riverbelle Terrace.







And the current incarnation of this sign:



See more vintage and contemporary Disneyland photos at my main website.

Upjohn Pharmacy Display

From the Disney publicity machine comes this interior shot of the Upjohn Pharmacy on Main Street U.S.A., circa 1950’s:

Youthful visitors to Disneyland are intrigued by a weird array of symbols—part of a new exhibit created by The Upjohn Company to trace the course of pharmaceutical history through the ages. The pharmacist’s familiar “Rx” (left), shown in its original form, was a medieval symbol meaning “to take.” It inaugurated the use of minerals in medical practice. Other symbols designated earth substances believed to possess curative powers.



These May 1958 photos show the exterior of The Upjohn Pharmacy:





And the same area today, now called the Fortuosity Shop:



See more Disneyland Main Street, U.S.A. photos at my main website.